Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A website for TheCircle psychic reading service, www.thecircle.com, seen on 7 July 2016 included text on the home page which stated “World renowned psychic advice from The Circle” and “We offer quality psychic readings from the very best psychics. TheCircle has over 300 expert readers”.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the following claims were misleading and could be substantiated:
1. “World renowned”; and
2. “TheCircle has over 300 expert readers”.
Response
1. Stream Live Ltd t/a TheCircle stated that they actively promoted themselves within the UK, USA, Australia, EIRE and Canada via multiple channels. They stated that the website offered content based on the visitor’s location in the territories signified by the relevant flags on the website.
They said that they had customers based in 38 countries around the world and this allowed them to be regarded as world renowned in their field.
2. TheCircle said that there were currently 305 readers on their website and this number varied weekly as inactive Readers were removed and new ones were added. They stated that there had consistently been over 300 readers for a number of years. They explained that readers were removed from their platform if they felt that retaining the reader was counterproductive or if a reader had requested to be removed. They said that customers could continue to contact an inactive reader to book readings through the website as this could prompt them to respond to bookings.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The ASA considered that consumers were likely to understand the claim “World renowned psychic advice” to mean that TheCircle were internationally recognised and highly regarded for their services within the psychic industry. We acknowledged that their website gave users the option to select from one of five countries of origin. However, we did not see evidence to substantiate that they were internationally recognised and highly regarded. We therefore concluded that the claim was misleading.
On this point the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation. (Substantiation).
2. Upheld
The ASA understood that consumers were likely to interpret the claim “TheCircle has over 300 expert readers” to mean that there were over 300 readers who were recently active on the site and were likely to respond to booking requests. We acknowledged that although the website contained over 300 profiles of readers advertising their services, consumers would not always receive a response from their chosen reader as the website contained dormant profiles which had not been removed. We concluded the claim did not accurately reflect the number of readers who were regularly active on the website and was therefore misleading.
On this point the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation. (Substantiation).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Stream Live Ltd not to repeat the claim “world renowned” and to only state the number of readers who were frequently active on their website.
